Frozen
by scarlet phlame
Summary: "It's bloody June!" Ianto hissed, grinding his teeth together and teetering back and forth with the heave and ho of the wind like a flag suspended on a pole. His arms were folded across his chest, securing his long coat to the mass of his body. "It's not supposed to snow in the middle of f-cking June!"


Snowed In

AN: Ok... so this was actually an idea for a chapter in my fic, 'Thief', but I really had fun writing this idea... so I decided to write it all over again, just for the heck of it.

R&R, please!

* * *

A freezing flurry of snow rained down from the heavens, pelting several innocent bystanders as they languidly hurried towards their warm homes. Ianto watched them leave the area in dismay, feeling the bitter sting of jealousy hit him like a bullet, twisting its way into his heart.

The cold seemed to bite at Ianto's skin like a pack of rabid dogs, and the Welshman shuddered, groping around his neck with numb fingers. He felt wool on his thumb and forefinger, and pinched down, pulling the multicolored scarf taut around his neck.

He uttered a curse under his breath, footsteps crunching in the snow. He felt as if he was stepping on a collection of New Year's firepoppers, or perhaps listening to Owen eat a bag of Lays.

_Crucnch, crunch, crunch, crunch._

A few feet ahead of him, the Captain waved a sleeved arm in the air, beckoning him forwards. From a distance, the immortal might've been mistaken for someone waving a taxi.

Exasperated, Ianto panted and stumbled in the snow, as the freezing wind began to tug at his clothing. Damn the Rift for spitting out a weather-inducing artifact in the middle of Cardiff. Damn bloody Captain Jack Harkness for all but dragging him out of his flat by the ear to go and trot after the latest crap the gauge in space and time had spat out at them. He felt like a starving dog pathetically crawling towards a bone. Damn the cold, and his dwindling stamina as he battled to stay upright in the whirlpool of howling, freezing air.

Damn bloody Torchwood.

"We haven't got all day!" Jack bellowed, hands cupped over his mouth for effect. Ianto rolled his eyes, but he doubted the Captain could possibly see the gesture due to the thin layer of white sleet in the air dancing between them.

"It's bloody June!" Ianto hissed, grinding his teeth together and teetering back and forth with the heave and ho of the wind like a flag suspended on a pole. His arms were folded across his chest, securing his long coat to the mass of his body. "It's not supposed to snow in the middle of fucking June!"

A glance at the other man was unnecessary to see the smug grin on his face. Ianto could almost smell it from where he was standing. But, then again, his nose was slowly turning red from the cold. Suddenly, he wished he were at home, enjoying a nice cuppa and reading a book, curled up on the couch.

He finally reached Jack, filling up the gap separating them. Peering down into the snow, he raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "It's a bloody rock."

"I noticed."

"It's a bloody rock."

"Actually, it interferes with the weather by altering solar energy."

"So it's a bloody rock with magic powers. Brilliant. Can we pick it up and go home? I'm freezing," Ianto ground out.

Jack chuckled amorously, advancing on Ianto from behind and placing a hand on his waist. "Maybe I can warm you up later."

With a groan, Ianto hunched forwards, picking up the stone with a gloved hand.

Jack lifted the hand that'd previously been on Ianto's waist, and let it fall to his side."Mind if I take a look at that?"

Wordlessly, Ianto handed the stone to him. The older man took it from him, pivoting it in a full circle in his thumb and forefinger, examining it duly. Suddenly, the stone burst into flames, and Jack let out a howl of pain and dropped it on the snow-soaked ground. The heat hissed against the tufts of white.

The world began to spin around Ianto, thousands of images flying past his eyes in a kaleidoscope of nausea.

And then it stopped, finally _stopped_, and he collapsed onto the ground. Mind orbiting in flurried circles, he let out a gasp as gravity seemed to swoop around him, shoving his palms deeper into the snow and pulling him up. The pattern repeated for a few more moments, cycling around him like a vortex of his own miniature blizzard.

Then, it came to a sudden halt and he let out a loud, unsuppressed groan of pain, cheek resting against a knot of snow.

Arms trembling, he forced himself to stand, hobbling into the fray of the wind and snow as he teetered back and forth unbalanced.

"Jack!" he screamed. "Jack!"

A loud, piercing sound cut through the gale, and Ianto turned to face the direction it'd come from. It was a distress signal, one he recognized as Jack's. He'd only heard the pitchy, loud whine once before, when they'd been trapped in a death-maze created by some type of alien. Jack had sounded the distress signal, and it'd saved them.

He wasn't sure if it would save them now.

Ianto ran, ran in the direction of the sound he'd heard, stumbling several times in his speed. He nearly tripped over Jack when he found him- the immortal was lying unconscious on the snowdrift. Blood was pooling around his head, turning the crystallized white snow deep red.

"Jack." he nudged the body with the palm of his hand. "Oh, God, Jack." his vision blurred. He stooped his over the other man's body, pressing his ear onto his chest and listening for a heartbeat, tuning out the explosion of snow behind him. There was a heartbeat, much to his relief, but it was vague.

Jack's body was a crumpled mass, his fingers twitching slightly. His right arm was thrown over the top of his body. Somehow, he'd managed to peel away the flap on his wrist strap and send the signal.

"Jack," Ianto whispered, lifting up his lover by the flaps of his RAF greatcoat and hugging him to his chest. "Wake up, cariad."

He wasn't sure how long he waited for Jack to revive, but the immortal convulsed with a gasp of breath, hand unconsciously gripping onto Ianto's shoulder. He shuddered several times against Ianto before he seemed to adjust to his surroundings.

Swallowing, Ianto spoke up. "Where are we?"

"I think it teleported us," Jack uttered, closing his eyes for a moment and shivering. "We have to find it, or- or Cardiff'll be in deep snow by tomorrow."

Ianto nodded blankly and helped the older man stand, dusting off the thin film of snow on the greatcoat's sleeves. Jack managed something of a smile, but didn't comment on Ianto's avid preservation of his coat.

"You okay?" the immortal man asked, pressing a hand to Ianto to halt his shivering. Ianto nodded steadily, lips numb and cracked like porcelain.

"If we can't find it, I've still sent Tosh the distress signal. They'll find us," Jack said.

Ianto's head bobbed.

He jus t wondered if they would find them dead under layers of snow.


End file.
